Businesses commonly verify receipt of goods from a supplier prior to paying the supplier's invoice for the goods. This verification process typically involves matching an invoice to one or more receipt records that show that the goods were received by the business. Modern businesses have computerized invoice matching systems that match invoice records to receipt records and automatically approve an invoice for payment when a matching receipt is found.
Sometimes, when an invoice is matched to a receipt, a discrepancy still exists between the two. The discrepancy may be with respect to cost and/or quantity of an item. In current systems, the only option for a system to automatically manage cases where a discrepancy exists is to pay the invoice amount, regardless of whether the invoice amount exceeds the expected amount or is less than the expected amount, and post the difference to a specified general ledger account. Any other treatment desired by the business requires a user to intervene to attempt to resolve the discrepancy. This comes at the expense of the user's time and could lead to mistakes or delays that could further cost the business.